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Wing Morphing and Fuel-Efficient Planes
The allure of wing morphing has been around since man first noticed how birds fly.
Unmanned Vehicle Uses a Distributed-Motion Network
A defense contractor for an unmanned, remote-controlled vehicle discovered its initial choice of motion-control drives fell short on delivering power to the drive wheels.
3D Camera Exploits Motion-Control Technologies
A bevy of 3D movies are making their way to theaters around the world, thanks to simpler and moreefficient 3D cameras developed using modern motion-control technology.
Scanning for Ideas: Novel Recirculating Belt Powers Linear Actuator
Designers at Animatics Corp., Santa Clara, Calif. (animatics.com), reengineered the concept of a belt-driven actuator and came up with the Harmonic Linear Drive (HLD).
High-Tech Jobs Slowing But Still Growing
The U.S. gained 91,400 high-tech jobs last year, bringing the total to 5.9 million, according to a report by AeA, a high-tech trade association.
Speedy Leadscrew Lets Robotic Assistant Prep Lab Samples Fast
Screw-driven linear slides let Deena, a robot, quickly prepare samples to be tested for mercury and other metals.
Assault and Batteries
Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories must hate batteries: They heat them to extreme temperatures, overcharge them, drive nails into them, and generally do whatever they can to destroy them.
Will Hybrids Heat Up the Grid?
The growing number of plug-in hybrid electric cars and trucks may or may not require new electrical plants in the U.S., depending on when they’re charged.
Looking Back
10 YEARS AGO —
MAY 7, 1998
Virtual development for
aircraft: Lockheed Martin
will perfect the Joint Strike
Fighter and other advanced aircraft
with the help of visualization
software from Engineering
Automation Inc.
World Spends Over $100 Billion on Materialhandling Equipment
The global market for materialhandling
equipment will reach
$104 billion by 2010, according to a
report by market researcher Global Industry Analysts Inc.
What’s Hot, What’s Not
Recruiters say many parts of the engineering job market remain steady. But “green” skills are in high demand.
World’s First Nonmagnetic Robot Arm
The University of Calgary can boast that it’s got the first surgical robot able to operate in the 1.5 to 3-Tesla fields of magnetic-resonance imaging (MRI) machines.
Machine Tools On-the-Fly? Yes, Thanks to Digital Prototypes
Who could have guessed that building machine tools on-the-fly would make for a good business model?
“Hare’s Looking at You, Kid.”
Rabbits wearing electronic contact lenses are helping researchers develop devices that could one day let vision-impaired people see or let those with normal vision surf the Web on the go.
Scanning for Ideas: Micromanipulator with Consolidated Connections
The MT 130-50-DC manipulator stage from Steinmeyer Inc., Burlington, Mass. (www.steinmeyer.com), has its encoders and cabling hidden inside the table’s housing.
Scanning for Ideas: Actuators with Easily Adjustable Belt Tension
The HPLA and HLE belt-driven actuators from Parker Hannifin Corp.’s Electromechanical Automation Div., Irwin, Pa. (www.parker.com), can now have belt tension adjusted at the idler end.
Looking Back
10 YEARS AGO —APRIL 16, 1998
Letters 4/24/08
Ph.D.s don’t make sense
Backtalk - 04/24/2008
Creative Office Engineering
Scanning for Ideas: A Better Way to Make Ethanol
Turning plant matter into ethanol, a fuel suitable for flex-fuel vehicles, traditionally took a lot of energy.
German Tonic for America’s Manufacturing Doldrums
The latest economic data from the Institute of Supply Management says U.S. manufacturing activity has declined to a five-year low, as slowing demand and rising prices continue to damp manufacturing output.
My Biggest Mistake, and How I Fixed it
James Henderson was just starting his career when he was tasked to design a stepper motor to drive a rotating stand for testing a missile system.
Letters 04/10/2008
Fuzzy data
I couldn’t agree more with your recent editorial (“Why you can’t always believe published research,” Jan. 10).
Backtalk 04/10/2008
Extreme engineering
The nation’s largest and most complex engineering project was Boston’s “Big Dig.”
Letters - 03/20/2008
AUTOMOTIVE WOES
It’s always a pleasure reading your editorials, even (or rather, especially) when they address controversial issues.